Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Eclipse is retiring?
Author: I want to watch Thor Love and Thunder to study more about the MCU's gods, but its screening is postponed indefinitely in my country. I had to cut off a lot of Dawn's scenes today as I couldn't watch the movie.
(っ- ‸ – ς)
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Underneath the blue sky with minimal clouds, Ryan and Gwen are laying down side by side in the field of dandelions.
"What are you going to do now?" Gwen asks. Her hair is disheveled from rolling around the field with Ryan. On her left hand, her fourth finger, a silvery ring with green diamond inlaid can be seen.
Ryan grabs her hand and drags it to his face. He kisses the back of her left hand as he is still reliving the moment she says yes.
"Maybe… I will retire? Move to a village somewhere and cultivate some crops," Ryan said.
"Pfff," Gwen let out a short chuckle.
"Why are you laughing?" He asks with a smile.
"Don't lie to yourself," Gwen exposes his lie instantly. There is no way that a guy who couldn't stay still for a day retired to the countryside.
Ryan rolls to his side and stares at Gwen. "If I do go, will you come with me?"
Gwen rolls to look at Ryan. Her finger brushes on his face. "Of course. I will follow my husband wherever he wants to,"
The blissful moment is cut short as Kai notified Ryan telepathically that Thor is going back to Asgard. The Avengers are summoned to send the god away.
Kai rejected the summons. His decision is accepted by the others. If you will only live for a short time, then it's better to spend it with the ones you love.
"Gwen, let's go home," Ryan said as he held her face.
"Did something happen again?" Gwen asks. Her hand shivered a little. Lingering fears surrounded her heart as the memory of a bloodied Ryan surfaced inside her mind.
Ryan hugs her tightly. He will never forgive himself for making her tears fall.
"Nothing important is happening. We need to announce our engagement to my dads and my future parents. Also, let them be at ease," Ryan said in a comforting voice.
His dad, Tim Knight, and his pseudo-dad, Hiddle Thompson are still oblivious about his healthy state right now. He wants to absolve their worries.
"You know, the public didn't need to fully know that you're healthy," Gwen said suddenly.
"What are you thinking?" Ryan is intrigued.
"In recuperation for 3 to 6 months. At that time, maybe we go to Cuba? Or the Maldives?" Gwen suggested.
"That…sounds lovely," Ryan agrees with her. Continuous working and studying have been making him feel a little burnt out.
The ruminating thought about the invasion can be eased up for a little while as the world takes time to change and accept the new truth. Sure, chaos will ensue in multiple parts of the world, where religion will clash with reality, and people have to choose between the two.
Ryan is just going to let the events happen, as it is a process every civilization needs to go through.
Before they go on a vacation, Ryan wants to conclude the events first. He teleported with her back to their place.
"What happened here?" Gwen asks in a high-pitched voice. The walls are charred. The living room is destitute. All the furniture is turned into dust.
The demonic energy seeps into the furniture when Ryan is exorcised. Kai burned all of the affected items, leaving the house in that state.
"Side effect," Ryan answered shortly.
His eyes darted around the room, as he felt a presence. A bird-size mosquito is flying around with hundreds of wings more than 2 inches wide, and fangs instead of suction tubes.
"Gwen looks," He distracted her from seeing the mosquito. He puts his hand on her shoulder and turns to show her another sight.
Controlling his magic circuit to replicate a divine fire, he zapped the demonic mosquito to ashes before Gwen could see.
"What? What do you want me to look at?" Gwen's eyes are darting around the place Ryan is showing her. She is puzzled as she scans the surroundings.
Then, she saw it. Something that crushes her heart. The broken pieces of her collection.
"My China plate!" Gwen ran toward the broken cabinet and mourned the fate of her precious collection.
On the hidden island, Paradiso.
"Ahh," Dawn moaned in pleasure as he submerged inside the hot tub in his quarters.
He had the longest fight among the entire combatant as he hunted down the chitauri's warship that survived the nuclear explosion and destroyed 90% of them before they managed to escape.
Beside him, Hela is submerging naked inside the hot tub using her holographic projection. Her true body is inside a golden hot tub in Helheim.
"Dawn Everstar, Odin will go to sleep in another day or so. Come to Helheim. It's your king's order," Hela said as she upheld her dignity.
Seeing him being merciless and hunting down the enemies, had gotten her incredibly turned on.
Her insecurities are also bubbling up as Dawn is stronger now. She feels his changes, even though she is just seeing his battle from afar. Before this, it is impossible for Dawn to kill her.
But if they fight now,
There is a 50% chance for her to lose.
"I will obey your order my King," Dawn said casually. He answered shortly as he wanted to unwind in the tub and not think about anything else right now. He felt sleepy and a little dazed. He didn't know if he felt like this because he is tired... or something else.
Hela nods as she hears the response. He is still obeying her even though he is stronger right now. It greatly eases her mind.
After she tested his loyalty, she is thinking about ways to reward him. 'Should I browse the Internet thingy again?'
She is a little afraid to stumble into a shady website… again. How could she know that a video titled a female Knight fighting a massive Orc is an adult animation? The unholy sight is still burned into her retinas.
After finishing his bath, Dawn changes into comfortable clothes and is going to sleep.
When he got home to Earth, something kept bugging him. He is hearing voices, whispering inside his ears. Someone is trying to tell him something, but he couldn't understand it.
'I managed to hear them when I woke up last time,' he thought as he laid down on the bed.
The mental fatigue of his ascension, his alien hunts, and the exorcism, pushed him deeper into a good day of sleep.
He falls into a deep sleep, not realizing what is happening around him. The wooden part of his bed frame is growing plants and flowers, almost wrapping him.
All over the room, plant life is growing. Slowly, they cocoon Dawn inside them. He won't know how long he is asleep, or when he will wake up if Ryan didn't notify him.
Inside Dawn's body, the drop of Hela's blood is becoming an impetus for his change. The cocoon is pulsing green light, with every pulse the plant life will thrive.
He is en route to awakening a divinity of his own. Like Thor who has the power of Thunder, or Hela with her molecular rearrangement, or Heimdall with his all-seeing eye.
Although a wonderful thing is happening to him, he forgot that he had promised Hela to come over. A month passed since he fell asleep. From the initial anger, Hela is now worried about what is happening to Dawn.
…
Stark Industry has a research center at the edge of New York City. The machine that can teleport Thor back to Asgard is built by Dr. Banner and Dr. Selvig right there.
It was built for Loki and Thor, with only a two-person capacity for interplanetary travel, powered by the Tesseract.
Coulson is driving a black SUV. Dr.Selvig is riding together with the agent.
Tony is riding with Dr. Banner inside a brown, convertible, Audi R8 and Barton is hitching a ride with Natasha.
The cars are parked 500 meters away from the site. In case something goes wrong, they decide to throw Thor's going away party on the outskirts, where it is far away from human civilization.
Tony is checking his phone as a text from Pepper chimes in.
[Pepper: Gwen and Ryan are engaged!]
His exhausted face almost cracked a smile, but he remembered the injury Ryan has. Do they want to get married before his condition becomes worse?
After Tony had scanned Ryan's injury, he sent his data to every expert doctor in the world. None can help him by showing him ways to help Ryan.
'I hate to bother the winged Doctor, but I need to ask him today,' Tony thought in his mind. He heard about Kai's condition. The two biggest contributors in the battle are now incapacitated.
Another heavy contributor is now leaving. Maybe he can get him to stay for a little while longer?
"Thor, don't you want to stay for lunch?" Tony asked as he put his phone back inside his pocket.
The earth's inhabitants are standing at the side, while Thor and Loki are standing a bit farther than them.
"That is an excellent suggestion, Stark. However, I should go back to Asgard. Without the Bifrost, the nine realms will be in chaos," Thor replied as he smiled sadly. He still wants to gorge himself on Krabby Patty the way he did yesterday.
Banner and Selvig had been working overtime with full, un-budgeted resources from Stark. They agree with Thor keeping the tesseract. Shield(Hydra) had been eyeing the cube and sending agents to retrieve it.
The Avengers need to send it away before the organization becomes much more aggressive in retrieving the cube.
Barton is staring at Loki with hatred behind his sunglasses. To be controlled and do things against your will, almost broke him. Natasha senses Barton's condition and whispers to his ears.
"Sir Hiddle shot him 5 times yesterday. With the maximum force of the plasma gun."
Barton's stoic face turns to a smile. His heart feels a bit satisfied hearing what Loki had to go through.
Thor is getting ready to power up the device. Loki is holding one end of it while he is holding the other. He needs to twist the horizontal switch vertically to activate the teleportation.
Suddenly, Thor feels a terrifying presence emanating from behind him. It couldn't be an Avenger member as they are in his line of sight. It is a familiar presence, but it is tainted with filthy energy.
"Are you leaving now?" A dark and gritty voice asked from behind Thor.
The god of thunder turns quickly and holds the Mjolnir in a battle stance. Loki's eyes shake, as he too can feel the terrifying pressure from the man clad in dragon hide.
The Avengers' eyes widened as they saw the newcomer.
"Eclipse! My man," Barton greeted happily as he walked toward Ryan. He had fought with Eclipse two times before.
Among those there, he is the closest to the Earth guardian. Coulson can barely be counted on him.
"Wait, Barton!" Thor yelled and stopped Hawkeye from going near. Something is wrong with the guardian, he can sense it. He is looking closely at the hooded man, trying to find out what it is.
Eclipse, who is Ryan in disguise, is confused by Thor's vigilance. He came here today to deliver Amora to the Asgardian. At the same time, he wants to cover up some stuff.
'Why is Thor vigilant toward me?' Ryan thought. He casts a third-person view spell and watches his appearance as he is facing Thor using a third-person eye.
'Oh. That's it.'
He saw that a malicious aura was spurting from his suit. The demon horde from yesterday had stained his Eclipse's suit with demonic energy.
"My apologies, Asgardian," Ryan said to Thor.
Controlling divine fire energy, he burned off the demonic energy that was stained onto his suit. A red fire glowed from his suit, turning it into its original state.
Thor loosens his vigilance a little as the demonic nature he sensed is fading away.
"Wait, you're Eclipse? The so-called Earth guardian. You must suck at your job as you left early yesterday," Tony said, startling Banner who is next to him.
Natasha, Coulson, and Barton stare at Stark. Then, they turn their gaze to Eclipse. A question is lingering in their mind. 'Where did he go yesterday?'
The Earth Guardian didn't seem to mind Stark's impudence and is turning to Thor. He didn't answer Stark, nor was he paying any attention to the man.
"You. What happened to you Dragonborn?" Thor speaks using an Asgardian language, making the humans there confused by the sudden change.
[Instant transmission channel]
Ryan opens up a channel for him and Thor to speak privately. Thor is startled at first when something is knocking onto his mind, but then he accepts it as it is not dangerous.
Thor is reliving Ryan's experiences fighting inside the demon horde. Luckily, his Imperium armor felt like ordinary armor.
Thor becomes solemn. Loki's crime has now become much more serious. He knows that the demons are salivating over Midgard realms. Thousands of years ago, he had fought them back to their dimensions together with the human King who had an enchanted sword, Excalibur. He still remembers the terrifying Dark Magic Sorceress that almost conquered the land, Morgana Le Fay.
[I am sorry for my brother's half. I will make sure that he received a proper punishment. You have my word. ] Thor said after he recollected himself. He also noticed that Eclipse had sustained a major injury during the battle, and is slowly dying.
[I trust you, Thor Odinson.]
Steve Rogers stepped forward and asked the man in the hood.
"Why did you come here?"
If Eclipse wants to just send Thor away with the rest of them, Steve will gladly invite him to join them. However, he reads the files Shield has on Eclipse and it's making him a little guarded. The being has amazing strength and can contain the explosion that can destroy the continent. Thor calling him Dragonborn also tells Steve that he is not a mortal.
Thor and Ryan finished up their conversation on the transmission channel. Thor agrees to come more frequently to help Earth if it is in trouble as Loki had caused the Earth's Guardian to be weakened, possibly dying. Ryan cheered inwardly as he got one of his motives fulfilled.
"I came here to meet all of you," Eclipse said to Steve.
Coulson and Barton felt a little excited. They had met Eclipse before, but never got a chance to chat with him.
"Be happy my fellow Avengers. He has a gift for each of you," Thor said mysteriously to the group.
He knows that Eclipse is delegating the Earth's protection to the mortals. A heavy responsibility falls into his head to do more.
"Gift?" Natasha perked up her ear.
"But first," Eclipse said as he snapped his finger. Fury, who is listening to the conversation and monitoring the scene through a satellite lost all of his connection.
"I want eyes there! Now!" Fury ordered his subordinates urgently. Maria Hill nods, as she too wants to know what is going on there. What gift did Eclipse want to give the Avengers?
"Who is the woman next to you?" Banner asks as he walks forward. He felt a bit weird as none of them seemed to notice the woman. The woman is in handcuffs and her face is covered by a steel mask. Is she a prisoner of Eclipse, or a slave? How did a frail woman end up like that?
Thor takes a look at the woman after he hears what Banner asks.
"Amora!" The Asgardian Prince is startled and is stepping back. He didn't want to deal with the troublesome sorceress right now. Quickly, he controlled his divinity to protect his mind. Flashes of thunder are encircling his brain, guarding against Amora's seduction.
"I guess your 'Brother'... Didn't tell you about her?" Ryan asks Thor. He turns slowly and is looking at Loki, making the others follow his line of sight.
Thor's reaction shows that the woman isn't an ordinary woman. She must be fairly powerful that Thor is wary of her.
"Did you go to capture her during the battle yesterday?" Thor asks. He glances at Loki, but the mischievous god didn't show any surprised reaction, showing that he knows about her.
"No, I have another battle. She is barely… trouble," Eclipse answered, surprising Thor and Loki. Amora was sobbing when she heard that. Tears fell from her eyes uncontrollably. Her face is blocked by the steel mask, making no one know her emotions.
Being prisoned, she spent the entire day imagining her fate of being eaten. She felt lucky that Eclipse is sending her back to Asgard, otherwise, she might not live.
"What battle?" Tony is puzzled.
"Something you haven't reached the level to know," Eclipse said to Tony.
"Excuse me, I just saved New York," Tony said sarcastically.
Suddenly Thor scolded him, "Stark. He just saved the entire earth."
"He… what?" Tony wants to argue, but his mind is short-circuited. 'What is going on? Who am I? Where is this?'
"Thor, can you explain?" Coulson asked. Right now, only Thor can understand what is going on. The rest is clueless.
Unfortunately for them, Thor isn't the right guy to receive the explanation from.
"I am sorry, but your mortal mind couldn't comprehend the matter," Thor said. There are also dangers of telling the mortals about the demons and other dimensions.
The mortal Avengers are greatly dissatisfied by this.
"Thor, will you take her back to Asgard?" Eclipse asked. Amora nodded furiously to Thor, as if asking him to bring her back with him.
"This…" Thor looked at the device, and then at Dr. Selvig.
"It won't support another person tagging along, nor can you come back with it for another trip," Selvig explained as he shook his head.
"Is that so…" Eclipse said as Thor shakes his head toward him.
"Then I have no choice but to kill her," Eclipse announces calmly, startling the entire group there. Loki widened his eyes. Amora is shaking her hand, trying to run away.
"Sir, we can keep her until Thor fixes the rainbow… bridge, or whatever it is he used," Steve stepped out to defend Amora.
He didn't know that his sentence had already made Amora fall in love with him. Even a little wet...
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